Fighting For Love
by Kyuun
Summary: Oz has never had any luck with love after an incident destroyed his first love and caused him to lose his best friend. Now in his last years of high school, his friends are tired of his bad habits and try trick him into love... Full summary inside.
1. The Deal

**Fighting for Love**

**_Summary: _**_Oz has never had any luck with love after an incident destroyed his first love and caused him to lose his best friend. Now in his last years of high school, his friends are tired of his bad habits and trick him into dating a man known as the Raven of grief, who is known for causing girls to fall in love and dump them all in seven days. Now Oz must protect his heart from this bird and fight away memories of his past love. Lots of drama is sure to ensue as Oz and his friends face the most difficult thing in the world... love. _

**_Mostly Oz X Gilbert and Gilbert X Oz... Some Sharon X Break, Alice X Glen/Cheshire, Jack X Alyss, and Elliot X Leo but other than that it's all Oz and Gilbert._**

**Chapter 1- The Deal**

_"Is Gilbert waking up?" A fifteen year old, Oz Vessalius says watching a smaller black haired boy intently waiting for the sleeping boy to awake as he felt his uncle's hand onto his shoulder._

_"He'll wake up soon... Don't worry Oz." His uncle says softly as Oz smiled hopefully._

_'I want to hear your voice, Gil.' He thought leaning forward toward the bed watching the boy lovingly. Oz heard the doctor step into the room and call his uncle out into the hall but did not take his eyes off of the sleeping boy wanting nothing more than for the boy to open his eyes and smile at him. As he waited the boy started to stir and Oz gasped with a happy look on his face leaning over the boy whispering his name softly. The boy's eyes opened at the whisper of his name and he looked up at Oz confusedly before fear filled his eyes. Oz noticed this and reached out to make sure his beloved friend was alright but the boy slapped his hand away._

"_Get away from me!" He shouts causing Oz to flinch because he had never heard such a stern tone used by the boy before._

"_G-Gil… what's wrong?" Oz says softly trying to hide his confusion and hurt and the boy glared at him._

"_How do you know my name? You're some creepy stalker aren't you? Get out of here! I'll call the cops." He shouts pushing Oz back causing him to trip over the chair and hit the floor. Oz stared at the boy, fighting back tears, as he heard the door to the room and the doctor and his uncle come rushing in. He felt his uncle help him up and pull him out of the room but all Oz could see was the disgusted look on his beloved friends face._

"Oz-sama... It's time to wake up. Your breakfast is almost ready." A woman's voice calls to an eighteen year old Oz waking him from the dream, which was a memory from his past. He opened his eyes to his curtain being opened and he let out a soft groan.

"Miss Kate... It's Sunday, why do I have to get up so early?" Oz says burying his face into the pillow trying to hide from the light.

"You have to plans with that young lady today, don't you remember, Oz-sama?" The woman, Kate says calmly causing Oz to bolt up remembering his plans for the day.

"Right, thank you." He says checking his clock before jumping out of his bed and dressing for the day. He sat down to eat his breakfast when his phone vibrated in his pocket and he looked down at it to see it was his girlfriend. He quickly opened it up to make sure he wasn't late but when he opened it, it said that she was breaking up with him and he scowled at it. "Are you serious? What the hell did I do this time?" Oz says with a scowl as texted her back '_Are you sure?'_ even though he knew she was quite sure. He then started to eat breakfast waiting for his reply but he never got it so he opened his phone and deleted her number from his list of favorites. 'That's the end of that... man I would like to know what I did wrong but I guess it just wasn't meant to be just like all the others.' Oz thought slightly depressed as his sister appears in the dining room's door way sleepily walking over to her seat beside her brother.

"Morning Niisan..." She says sleepily as Oz smiled at her remembering how she wanted him to go shopping with this afternoon but he said that he was busy.

"Morning Birthday girl... I cleared my schedule to hang out with you; you still want to go shopping?" Oz says with a gentle smile watching his sister perk up and smile.

"Really?" She says before she frowned. "But I promised to spend the morning with Jack since he couldn't come to my party..." She says with a small pout and Oz rested his head onto his arm.

"We can go after you hang out with Jack... You're not doing anything after right?" Oz says smiling slightly as he watched his sister beam at him.

"Okay! You can come pick me up at the _'Little Café'_ around one! Oh I can't wait; I want to pick out a dress to wear tonight at my party! Will you help me?" She says with an excited look and Oz frowned not liking where this was going but he nodded in agreement. "Yay! I love you big brother!" She says happily hugging him tightly. "You're the best big brother ever!" She squeals before she began eating her breakfast. Oz only sighed before he continued to eat thinking of things he could do until he went with Ada to the mall.

'Maybe I'll call Sharon-chan and Alice to see if they would want to hang out for a little while until our usual Sunday Brunching.' Oz thought knowing that Alice wouldn't pass up a free meal if he said he was paying. 'I'll do that until it's time to pick up Ada.' He thought with a slight smile to himself.

Once he was finished eating he quickly hurried up stairs to his room and pulled out his phone to call Sharon before stopping looking at the clock. It was still too early to call her so he put his phone back into his pocket and plopped onto his bed. 'This is so boooring...' He thought pouting as he turned his head over to the side to see his Pura-Kuri booklet he kept on his desk. He reached up and took it off the desk looking through the book slowly. 'This one's of me and Gil, after Ojisan's party, Heh... It was the best seeing Gilbert drunk even though it was just some whine.' Oz thought looking at the picture of Oz glomping a black haired teenager that was drunkenly hugging him back with a young Ada peeking in front of them with her cat Dinah. There were hearts surrounding the boarder of the picture and writing with their names on it. He then read the words he and Gilbert had written on the opposite side about how they felt about that day. 'It was to celebrate our newly found connection.' Oz thought feeling pain in his chest. 'He doesn't even remember me anymore... and he's a Nightray.' He thought closing his book and pressing it to his chest tightly. 'He's long gone now so why can't I forget him... I can't even throw these away.' Oz thought frowning as he closed his eye trying to push his memories away. 'I can act like I don't know him all I want but every time he looks at me it hurts and he's been doing it a lot lately. Maybe he remembers me a little...' Oz thought with a small laugh at his foolish hopes as he sat up looking down at the book. "That's all I have… It's not like it's going to do much hoping like this." Oz says with a slight laugh as he decided he was going to go ride his motorcycle till it was late enough to call Sharon and Alice. 'Heh… Maybe I can convince them to eat at Alice-chan's family's restaurant. That'd bring back memories for everyone… since it's where I first met Alice.' He thought jumping up from his bed before going over to his desk to grab his keys. When he noticed Ada's birthday present sitting beside he key bowel. 'Right I should give that to her before she leaves to hang out with Jack. He grabbed the small light blue box with a silky white ribbon along with his keys before he ran to Ada's room knowing that she was getting ready. He knocked on the door before he heard some scrambling and he hid the box behind his back as Ada opened the door with a serious look on her face. Oz chuckled softly watching her blush and open the door to show her plaid skort and white tank top that was lacy around the arms and neck. "You look nice…" Oz says with a chuckle before she blushed with a small smile.

"Thank you… Is there something you wanted?" She asks shyly and Oz smiled at her before showing her the present and she gasped.

"Happy Birthday… I was going to wait but I figured that you'd want to open it." Oz says with a slight chuckle as Ada stared at him with a happy look on her face.

"I can open it?" She asks taking it from his hands before Oz nodded and she pulled him into her room excitedly. He only chuckled as he watched her twirl around and unties the ribbon before opening the box and gaping simple looking ruby necklace that had a diamond on either side of it, all on gold chain. "Oh… It's… so beautiful… Thank you Oniichan!" She shouts wrapping her arms around her brother before Oz took it out of the box for her and hooked it around her neck.

"It looks good on you, Ada…" Oz says smiling because he knew Ada loved her birthstone and that the necklace was a perfect choice.

"It's perfect Oniichan! I'm going to find a dress that matches it!" She squeals continuing to hug him before Oz's phone vibrated and he pulled away. He flipped the phone open before smirking and Ada frowned.

"Who's that, Oniichan? Your girlfriend?" She asks sadly and Oz shakes his head.

"It was Sharon-chan… Surprising right? She doesn't seem like the type of person to text but she does." Oz says with a slight chuckle and Ada smiled at him with a small laugh.

"She's a good person though… I'm glad you're still friends with her." Ada says happily as Oz nodded before he gave her a small bow.

"Well I'll leave you now, my princess to finish getting ready, until we meet again." He says with a teasing grin and Ada giggled before shooing him out of the room. Oz shut his sister's door before frowning and looking down at his keys. 'Of course she dumped me, Sharon-chan. Why else would she be hanging on to some other guy?' Oz thought with a small frown before shrugging and walking down the stairs feeling his vibrated again he opened it and laughed again before walking out the door with a slight smirk on his face as he dialed a number on his phone. He then waited till the person answered. "Where do you want to go? We can hang out until Break gets off work." He says with a slight smirk knowing that Sharon Rainsworth wanted to find out the gossip of a story that did not exist. He laughed softly before nodding and pulling his red and black Yamaha motorcycle out of the garage. "You want me to call Alice? ...You sure? Okay, I'll be there in fifteen minutes." Oz says casually before he chuckled at her comment. "With the way I drive a half an hour is cut in half, Sharon-chan! You should know that by now... Ha! Bye-bye!" He says before he hung up the phone and sticking it in to his pocket before he pulled on his black helmet and started his bike. He then started the engine before he sped down the drive way before heading off to Sharon's manor house that was supposed to be a half an hour away. Fifteen minutes he got there and was immediately scolded by Sharon for going so fast. He only chuckled and looked over the outfit she chose to wear. She usually dressed in sweet-lolita outfits but today she wore a pair of jeans and a pink button up long sleeve shirt with frills around the collar and at the end of the sleeves. Oz chuckled softly knowing that she knew he was going to be riding his bike out here and dress to ride on it. "Aren't you going to be hot?" He asks pulling his helmet off as she scowled.

"You really need to slow down, Oz-sama… You are going to get yourself killed driving like a maniac like that." Sharon says softly causing Oz to laugh warmly as he tossed her his helmet.

"I'll stop being a maniac when you stop being a princess." He says watching her smirk as he patted the back of the bike.

"Of course you would." She says with sarcasm as she pulled the helmet on to her head and climbed onto the bike. He then sped off with her clinging tightly to him most likely screaming for him to slow down but he did not care and even went faster. They then hung out at the park till lunch where they went to Sharon's favorite restaurant.

_**0o0o0o0o0o0o0**_

Oz had told her the story about the girl he had dated, knowing that Sharon had wanted to hear that from him and she then went of a rant about him needing to try new aspects of life and that he should try boys and that is how she got onto the topic of Gilbert Nightray.

"You should try him out! Gilbert-kun is so sweet! He'll say 'yes' to anyone who asks him first. I've even seen him with boys!" Sharon says cheerfully to Oz. He sat by her side playing with his food in a bored way as his friend continued on about the history of the schools most popular third year, also known as the Raven of Grief. He had the miserable reputation of dating, making his significant other to fall in love, and leaving them all in one week's time. It was almost as bad as Oz's reputation that was a complete and total lie.

"I'm not one to date boys, Sharon-chan…" Oz says with a small sigh as he looked up from his meal to see her raise an eyebrow. "I've already put that notch into my belt and I'm not interested in that type of relationship so don't even think that I'm going to give it another try." Oz says with a small scowl and Sharon laughed at him. 'Especially with Gilbert...' He thought sadly listening to Sharon laugh at him.

"This is coming from the third year that is known for his amazing one-night-stands! And when did you get that notch, I've never heard of this yet!" She says with joyful laughter and Oz scowls at her. "Oh come on, how many girls have you bang and bailed on in the past month? You can't deny public knowledge so what's wrong with adding a couple of boys to your reputation?" She asks with a slight teasing look in her eyes as Oz rolled his eyes.

"I don't sleep with them, Sharon-chan; I'm not that heartless! I date them for as long as they want and they just fall out of love with me and dump me." Oz says running his fingers through his silky blond hair letting a sigh escape his lips, completely ignoring her comment about boys. Sharon simply shook her head sipping her tea silently not wanting to voice her opinion on Oz's relationships, knowing he already knew what she thought. "We're not on that topic of discussion anyway; you were talking about Nightray-kun." He adds pushing his plate foreword signaling he was done.

"Right... Today's Sunday, every Sunday it happens so what are you going to do?" Sharon says with a small curious look as she glanced behind Oz and a smile graced her lips. "Well… Well, speak of the devil himself. Look who just came in with his girlfriend. Doesn't she look happy to be with him?" Sharon says pointing over at the jet black haired Gilbert that entered the restaurant with this week's girl. She had shoulder length brown hair and had a happy smile on her face as she clung to his arm.

"She looks happy but he looks annoyed, don't blame him, I hate clingy girls." Oz mutters causing Sharon to smack him upside the head.

"You're quite clingy yourself." She says with an annoyed smile on her face as Oz sighs glancing over his shoulder at the raven. "He must be dumping her today… That's the look he always has on Monday when he comes to school." She says with a small sigh looking away from them as they got escorted to a table in the far corner.

"Poor girl… She's going to get her heart ripped out of her chest by the Raven of Grief." Oz says amusedly as he stood up watching Sharon glare at him. "Let's get out of here before the fireworks go off. It'd be annoying to listen to it; he always does it in public." Oz says with a small sigh as he pulled out his wallet and left to pay for their meals. Sharon simply sighed before looking over at Gilbert and his girlfriend with a sad look in her eyes.

"I wonder how you're going to react to that letter, Gilbert-kun." Sharon whispers letting a small smile form on her lips standing up from her seat as she made her way to where Oz was waiting. "So Oz-kun, who is your girlfriend tonight, since you change them every day I simply cannot keep track." She says calmly wanting to Oz to tell her his plans so hers would not be ruined.

"I don't have a new one every day! And I don't have one right now for your information… I'm not going to bother with getting a new one the next few months because my sister is back from her boarding school for summer break and she'd be pissed if she found out I was seeing other girls." Oz says with a bored look on his face as they exited the restaurant. "Too bad for you Sharon-chan, what are you going to do when both of your gossip muses are single because of the summer break?" He says teasingly as Sharon smiles a gentle smile but Oz knew that she was thinking up a plan and tensed. Sensing his tension Sharon let out a small giggle and did a little double step amusedly.

"My, you're right; what will I do?" She says cupping her cheeks slightly causing Oz to look at her nervously, worrying about what she was planning but he decided it was best to ignore his nerves and continue on.

"I wonder why Alice couldn't come with you to cheer me up! I'm heartbroken here!" Oz says quickly changing the subject with fake sorrow before Sharon decided to pull him into her plot.

"She probably had plans come up suddenly, and I hardly call you heartbroken." Sharon says with a small giggle and Oz pouted.

"Oh shut up..." Oz says in annoyance that she was making fun of him but knowing that it was to make him feel better.

"She probably got invited to an all you can eat restaurant by one of her many boyfriends." She says with a small giggle as Oz stopped in front of his motorbike.

"You want a ride?" He asks pointing behind his back and Sharon giggled.

"No, that's alright. Not after this morning Oz Vessalius, never again; besides Break is here to pick me up." She says with a small smile as she walked over to the black and purple mustang that had just pulled into the parking lot.

"Okay your loss! Have fun Break, make sure you speed!" He shouts to the two as Sharon got into the car. He watched as Break pulled out of the parking lot and peel away causing Oz to laugh. 'Sharon's going to be mad at me for suggesting the speeding to that maniac.' Oz thought with a slight grin on his face as he heard the door open to the restaurant. He ignored it and climbed onto his bike as the shoulder length brown haired girl runs past with tears in her eyes. 'There she goes…' He thought as he looked at the entrance to see the black haired man exiting the building with a frown. He looked at Oz with a calm stare before Oz pulled his bike out of the parking space and drove off.

'I don't blame Sharon-chan for trying to hook me up but I am not going to date him! I may have been dumped many times in my eighteen years of life but doesn't mean I banged and bailed them. Is that what everyone thinks? God, I feel like a whore now.' Oz thought bitterly as he sped around a corner and down the street toward his town's outlet mall. 'Oh well I shouldn't be worrying too much about it. Sharon-chan couldn't get me to date him, even if she threatened me into my grave.' He thought smirking as he pulled over to the side of the road.

"Oniichan!" A girl with long wavy blond shouts as she runs up to the bike and Oz pulls off his helmet and smiled at her.

"Hey Ada, wait long?" He says sweetly to the girl, who was Ada Vessalius, his younger sister.

"No, I just finished lunch!" She says smiling happily as she took the helmet from him and pulled it onto her head.

"Great, I won't go too fast so you won't be sick… Did Jack make it up to you for not being able to come?" Oz says helping his sister climb onto the bike before taking off at a decent speed.

"Um…Yes?" Ada shouts over the roar of the engine as they quickly rounded a corner toward the mall.

"It's going to be great! All of your little girlfriends are going to have a great time!" Oz shouts speeding down the road.

"Wha-?" Ada shouts because she couldn't hear as they spin around the corner and she squeals in delight as she squeezed him because she felt like she'd be flung off. "Oniichan!" She shouted as Oz laughed at her, spinning the bike around to land a parking spot.

"Have fun?" He says grinning at her as she pried herself off of the bike and laughed.

"That was dangerous! You shouldn't do things like that, you'll get yourself killed!" Ada scolds but her grin said that she wasn't mad at all.

"Eh, it hasn't killed me yet." Oz says playfully as Ada giggled at him taking his arm happily. She then pulled him toward the mall's entrance and then to the closest dress shop. She began looking through the dresses as Oz stood there watching her with a small smile on his face.

"How about this one, Niisan, is it cute?" Ada says pulling out a bright red tube top dress that flowed out and around. Oz felt his lips twitching hating when his sister would do this to him; he hated the fact he had to help her pick out outfits every time she went shopping.

"It looks pretty, Ada. I think it'd look beautiful on you." Oz says sweetly as she handed him the dress for her to try on. She continued to look through the clothing and Oz sighed and decided to look around for something to do.

"Here!" Ada says cheerfully handing Oz three more dresses before Oz could even blink and she was off again.

'She's going to try on fifty dresses and then make me pick just like the last time we went shopping.' Oz thought in disgust as he looked over at the entrance of the store to see a white haired girl entering the store with a slight smile on her face as she began looking at the dresses. Oz let out a small laugh because he knew the young woman and how much she loved to shop.

"Nii-san, I'm ready to go try on my dresses!" Ada says happily putting two more puffy frilled dresses into Oz's arms and pulling him off to the changing stales. She then grabbed them and put them into the stale before shutting it. Oz let out a small sigh before pulling his phone out of his pocket and text the girl who he knew that was looking at dresses. After a moment he got a reply and texted her back quickly. He then let a small grin form onto his face waiting for the girl to come and find him. "How does it look, Niisan?" Ada says cheerfully jumping out in the red dress she had first picked out and Oz tilted his head slightly looking her over.

"Hmm... It does really suit your figure, Ada." Oz says looking up at her face again and Ada pouted before looking beside him.

"Well I think that's a lovely color on you." The white haired girl says with a slight smile as Oz looked at her grinning.

"Hey Alyss, are you shopping too?" Oz says curiously as Ada walked over to stand by her brother.

"Just browsing..." She says smiling as she looked at Ada. "My I really do love the color of that dress." She says happily and Ada gives her a small smile.

"Yeah I thought the same thing, Niisan, who's this?" She says curiously as Alyss giggled softly.

"I am Alyss... Alyss W. Rabbit. I am Alice B. Rabbit's twin sister... and yes I bleach my hair, everyone asks." She says casually looking at Oz amusedly before placing her hand on her hip.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you, I thought you looked familiar! I'm Ada Vessalius, Oz's younger sister. I'm only younger by a year though." Ada says with a slight bow and Alyss nods knowing who she was because of Oz's text.

"It's lovely to meet you, Ada-chan but I can't believe you have Oz choosing your dress... I mean boys don't know anything about style, just look at him! He's wearing a button up shirt with a pair of plaid shorts, a red tie with an old brown sleeveless jacket. That's so eighteenth century shota apparel." Alyss says causing Oz to pout and cross his arms.

"I am not a shota..." He says looking away with a pout on his face as Ada giggled at him before smiling at Alyss.

"That is true but I like my brother's opinions on what I'm wearing to things like this." Ada says with a grin and Alyss nods and steps forward, whispering something into her ear. "Really? Are you sure?" Ada says with a slight shock as she looked at her brother with curious eyes as Alyss continued to grin. "That'll be so much fun!" She says with an excited grin as she took Alyss's hand. "Will you help me pick out an outfit?" She says happily and Alyss grabs her hands back.

"Of course I will." She says gleefully as she looks at Oz. "Oz, why don't you go hang out in the food court until us girls are finished." Alyss says and Oz smiled at them.

"Only if Ada wants me too..." Oz says sweetly looking at his sister who nodded excitedly and he shrugged. "Okay... I'll be in the food court. We'll get some treats after you guys are done... My treat..." He says with a wink to Alyss who nodded and pulled Ada into the changing stale to continue dressing her up. 'No matter who it is she loves dressing them up in strange outfits... and they usually end up being a hit at any party, especially the formal parties.' Oz thought smiling happily. 'And I don't have to feel like a homo looking at dresses all afternoon.' He thought walking out to the food courts pulling his phone out and calling his cousin Jack knowing he was getting ready for his shift. "Hey Jack... You single?" Oz says as his cousin answered his phone.

"Why?" Jack says in a bored tone as Oz grinned.

"Well remember that white haired girl from my class?" Oz says curiously as he listened to the silence on his cousin's end.

"Yeah..." He says after a moment with a sigh. "She was the life of your last party wasn't she?" Jack says casually and Oz laughed.

"She usually is... Remember how you said you wanted to meet her?" Oz says and Jack laughs.

"Duh, I want to meet her; talk to her and not wonder what she's really like!" Jack shouts into the receiver.

"But you never asked but she did so I thought I'd call you and give you her number." Oz says joyfully knowing Jack was excited about what was happening. "Do you want it?" He asks teasingly already knowing the answer.

"Yes and this better not be a trick to humiliate me Oz! I still remember last time!" He says in a serious voice because of the last time Oz had given him a number.

"It's not a trick! I told you that it was a total accident, I didn't mean to give you the wrong number!" Oz says with a pout before he gave Jack Alyss's cell number. "Have fun... I've got to go now; Ada will be back any minute from dress shopping." Oz says with a chuckle and Jack laughs.

"Okay, but I'll thank you after I find out if this is her real number." Jack says in a serious voice and Oz laughs again.

"Okay bye." He says hanging up his phone and sighing. 'Done and done... Now I won't owe Alyss anymore and she'll be ecstatic when she hears.' Oz thought laughing softly as he stopped at an empty table. He then sat down watching the people pass, groups of girls, boys looking for girls to hit on, couples spending the day with each other. Oz sighed watching them before pulling out his phone remembering that he had to do something. He opened his phone and searched through it deleting the pictures of his last girlfriend. Once he was done with that he opened a folder that he'd never delete in a millions of years. He smiled softly at the pictures feeling a little sad but that's when he heard his sister call for him from across the court. He shut his phone and waved at her happily watching her and Alyss run towards him with Ada's dress and a couple other bags.

"Niisan! We've got a surprise for you!" Ada says cheerfully as the two stop in front of his table.

"Yes, I believe you'll really enjoy it!" Alyss says setting the bag she had been carrying in front of Oz.

"Okay, what is it?" Oz says calmly waiting for them to show him what their surprise was for him.

"You have to promise you'll wear it, no matter how much you hate it." Alyss says with a slight giggle.

"Yeah, you have to promise, Niisan. Promise you'll wear it tonight at our party." Ada says with excitement in her eyes.

"Um... Okay. I promise Ada." Oz says wondering why they were making him promise them as they squealed in delight. They then pulled out the contents of the bag and Oz's eyes widened in shock. "No way in hell!" Oz says with a scowl on his face.

_**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**_

Oz stood at his sisters parties in the corner with a look of detest because his sister practically forced him into the outfit her and Alyss had bought for him. He was wearing a pair of tight shorts that felt like silk but looked like leather. They stopped at the middle of his thighs where black stocking covered the rest of his legs. His shirt was a red tank top that was obviously too small for him, exposing his stomach slightly. It was covered with a long black sleeveless jacket that went to his knees but when he tried to button the jacket up, Ada threw a fit and unbuttoned it again saying he looked cute with it unbuttoned. Oz thought he looked like a flamer but he knew Ada would get mad if he said anything like that to her. So he had to deal with it even though his pride was completely crushed when she showed him the healed ankle boot that resembled a pair woman's boots, which he was currently wearing as he stood watching girls whisper and giggle as they passed him.

'This is humiliating... I can't believe I really gave Jack Alyss's number. She doesn't deserve that call.' He thought bitterly knowing that Ada had invited Alyss to come to the party to celebrate their new friendship. "I regret even introducing them to each other..." Oz mutters staring down at his hand that had black gloves on them that only had one finger on them leaving the rest exposed. He let out a small growl as he began picking at the black nail polish Ada had painted his nails with. After a while of picking he finally got all of it off only to hear a small giggle from beside him and he looked over to see Sharon standing there with her secret boyfriend Xerexes Break. "Don't laugh... I'm not happy about wearing this." Oz says bitterly watching Sharon smile at him.

"But it fits your personality so well!" Sharon says with a laugh as the silver haired Break laughs in agreement.

"Yes, the Sadistic Shota boy." Break says with amusement in his voice causing Oz to glare at him.

"Oh shut up, Xerexes! I know for a fact that your Sharon's bitch, so don't even try to characterize me." Oz says with a hiss and Break continued to laugh softly not denying anything that was just said.

"Put a pair of cat ears and a collar on you an' give you a whip for a tail and you'd be a perfect for the S&M club down town. I'll drop you off if you'd like, they'll simply love a sixteen year old shota." Break says causing Oz to gasp in disgust before glaring at him with an 'Oh like hell I will go' glare as Sharon cleared her throat.

"Break Please, that's completely inappropriate for this party's atmosphere." Sharon says sweetly holding her hands together acting all innocent but Oz knew she had a dangerous side behind that innocent face and it was emerging.

"Right... I'm sorry My Lady." He says with a small chuckle and Sharon elbows him in the side playfully.

"Get a room you two; in fact let me show you to a room so I don't have to watch." Oz says looking away from them not wanting to know what they did in their spare time.

"Hey look! There's Gilbert-kun." Sharon says excitedly pointing over to the entrance and Oz frowned.

"Yeah, he's in my grade Elliot and his best friend, Reo. She invited them even though our family's dislike each other. I'm surprised that they even showed up. I suppose it's because it's rude to ignore an invitation to a party." Oz says in an annoyed voice crossing his arms. 'The only reason I don't like them is because they took _him_ away from me. I have no other particular reason to dislike them other than that.' Oz thought frowning at the blonde male that was hanging on Gilbert's arm. 'That's Gilbert's younger brother, Vincent... he's a second year.' Oz thought looking over to Sharon and he noticed that Break had a small scowl on his face. Oz smirked glad that he wasn't the only person that disliked the blonde.

"Hey, he's looking over here at you, Oz..." Sharon says teasingly and Oz rolled his eyes and looked off into a different direction than he was looking before making sure not to look in Gilbert's direction.

"No way... Why the hell would he be looking over here at me? We're not friends at all, the only reason he would be looking at me would be my disgusting outfit." Oz says in a nonchalant voice as he raised his one hand and shrugged his shoulders.

"Or it could be that Oujo-sama wrote a love letter to him and had it signed as you." Break says causing Sharon to giggle at the expression on Oz's face.

"You did WHAT?" Oz shouts at the top of his lungs causing a couple of people to look at him curiously. "To the balcony now, you two!" Oz growls pulling the two to the balcony; once they were there and he shooed people away he shut the door and glared at the two with an annoyed stare. "Why the hell did you give Gilbert a love letter supposedly written by me? Has having this creep inside you made you go mad? Do you realize what this is going to do if someone finds out? What if Ada finds out and tells my dad? I could get kicked out of the house or even sent to away to some Siberian training camp!" Oz shouts at the two of them knowing Sharon was also of a Dukedom household and she knew the rules very well but broke them and dated Break in secret, hiding it from her family.

"You're both Dukedoms... I don't see the problem." Break says amusedly as Oz scowls at him in annoyance.

"We're both boys! His family might not care but mine does!" Oz says coldly and Break chuckled.

"Right... I think there is more to this than what you're telling us." Break says amusedly watching Oz's face turn a slight pink color as he looked away. "You two have a drunken fling at a party or something?" Break says with a slight grin and Oz rolled his eyes not wanting to tell the rumor king and queen anything about his past relationships.

"No way, why the hell are you two suddenly interested in my love life anyway? I tell you when I start dating a girl and when I break up! So why, the hell, are you trying to hook me up with a Nightray? You know our families cannot stand each other!" He yells with a glare at Break before Sharon started to laugh sweetly.

"Because your relationships never seem to last long enough for that person to get to know you, I felt responsible and just simply had to take action by find someone that was your type." Sharon says happily watching Oz glare at her.

"A guy is not my type! A guy is someone I will play football with not tonsil hockey. I am not gay!" Oz says looking away from them with his statement as clear as day.

"But it's only for a few weeks... you know. He usually doesn't date anyone longer than seven days. Plus you said you already had this notch in your belt so it should be easy for you…" Sharon says calmly watching Oz grimaced. She then scowled and put her hands on her hips in annoyance. "Well if you don't date him, I'll just have to tell Ada about the girls you banged and then dumped. I am sure they'll all back up my story." She says in a sickly-sweet tone causing Oz to tense and look at her just to make sure she was serious and she was. Oz only let out an annoyed growl before looking away from them once again. "Good, now we'll give you some time to think. You better do it right, Oz. If you don't I'll make you regret it." She says with a small giggle and Oz let out another growl before he listened to them leave.

'I can't believe her! Damn it... I thought I would never agree to one of these schemes of hers... but if Ada found out about all those stupid girl, who'd say anything just to get something she'd have me sent to military school or something worse... a school away from the manor.' Oz thought with a small pout as he leaned against the railing looking out over the dark gardens of his home. 'Just great, I hope someone else already asked him before he got that damn letter. I won't be able to handle spending time with someone, that's already rejected me, even if he doesn't remember it. If there's a God he's so cruel.' Oz thought with a slight scowl as he stared up at the night sky. He sat out there drowning in his thoughts until he heard the door open and he sighed ignoring the person, already knowing who it was by the footsteps. 'No matter how many years pass you still have the same footsteps…' He thought sadly feeling a sense of nostalgia forming in his heart.

"Oz Vessalius, right...?" A male's deep voice says and Oz looked back with a calm look on his face with little to no surprise that he was right on who it was that approached him.

'I should just tell him it was a cruel prank done by Sharon-chan and Break.' He thought watching the black haired man stand in front of him with a small shy look. 'I need to just tell him that it wasn't me.' "Yes, that's me." He says softly feeling his chest tighten slightly because he hadn't really talked to Gilbert since the incident and the thought of having to talk to him now was beyond nerve wrecking. "Are you enjoying the party? Ada is somewhere in the manor, if you wish to give her your regards." He says with a slight forced smile before he looked at the ground.

"I...I am… Um...I wasn't looking for your sister, I-I was looking for you. I-I…got your letter." Gilbert says softly looking to the side as he held up the letter looking a bit guilty for some reason but Oz didn't even notice it.

"Yeah?" Oz says awkwardly looking up at him suddenly feeling really embarrassed. "I bet you get a lot of those." He says trying to sound annoyed but he it sounded weak and embarrassed. 'Too bad for you it wasn't really from me! You're so stupid to not realize that it's a trick! You've never even spoken to me since that accident and you don't even remember me!' He thought trying to focus on what was happening and not his own thoughts.

"Not really...I-I usually throw them away or ignore them… I think that the emotions are usually fake so I don't..." He says looking back at Oz who twitched at the eye contact.

'Then why didn't you do it to that one! The one that was obviously not from me! It's not filled with _my_ emotions, it's a complete fake! You're so stupid to think I would write _you_ one.' Oz thought with a small scowl that looked more like a pout. "What's so special about th-mine?" Oz says with a slight tilt to his head trying to act curious as to why Gilbert would keep that particular one. Gilbert shifted slightly before giving Oz a slight smile; scratching the back of his head embarrassedly.

"I've been noticing you a lot recently... I mean we're not in the same grade so we have never talked but I'm friends with Jack and… He talks about you a lot." Gilbert says with a slight embarrassed look on his face "And when we pass in the hall you're always seemed to avoid eye contact, but you were always laughing and smiling with your friends, I thought that I'd like to get to know you a little better and maybe become friends but something kept me from doing so." He says lowering his gaze as if ashamed of his cowardliness. "But when I got your letter I thought it'd be a good chance to get to know you. I was happy that you wrote me a letter." He says softly looking down at the letter with a small frown. "This is the first time I accepted a letter, I prefer a straight forward confession but I would like to go out with you." Gilbert says calmly not looking at Oz as if it was too embarrassing to say while looking at him and Oz stared at him for a moment not able to breath.

'Just tell him no... Never again... Just say no.' He thought opening his mouth to say 'no'. "N-Okay... Thank you." Oz says softly unconsciously slapping himself for not saying what he wanted to say. 'AH! Damn it! Why am I saying yes?' Oz shouts in his head as he looked up at Gilbert with a bright pink face.

"Would you like to go get something to eat with me?" Gilbert says softly watching Oz stare at him another moment before looking towards the door.

"Sure... There's a lot of good food at the buffet." Oz says calmly walking towards the door but Gilbert stopped him.

"Um… I meant tomorrow, like a date. Since Saturday was the last day of school, I thought it'd be nice thing to start off the summer with." Gilbert says embarrassed because he had to explain his self and looked down at his hand that was holding Oz's sleeve. Oz didn't answer him for a minute before he looked back at Gilbert with a slight smile.

"Okay... I know a nice place we can go to, my treat." Oz says smiling at Gilbert who looked up at him with a small smile. 'Maybe you'll start to remember if you went there.' He thought feeling a bit embarrassed that Gilbert was still holding on to his sleeve.

"Yeah, we can go anywhere you like." He says softly and Oz nods in acceptance, deciding just for a little while he'd do this, just to satisfy Sharon's lust for gossip but he knew he was going to get those two back somehow.

"Would you like to go back in?" He asks letting go of Oz's hand before reaching out for the handle of the door but it opened and Sharon tackled the two.

"So it's official! Finally!" She shouts wrapping her arms around Oz's neck, squeezing him to death. "I knew when I noticed the way you two acted around each other that you'd agree to this!" She squeals happily as Break chuckles while standing in the door way.

"Sharon-chan, let go of me! I hate you... Let me go! You're cruel and hurtful. Never speak to me again!" Oz shouts pushing at her trying to get the girl to let him go.

"Now, now! You'll be thanking me by the end of the week when that bad habit of yours is over." She says happily and Oz rolled his eyes and grabbing Gilbert's hand.

"Come on! Let's get out of here... These two are intolerable!" Oz says in annoyance pushing Break out of the way before pulling him into the ball room, where many people were dancing and chatting with each other.

"What did she mean by _bad habit_?" Gilbert says curiously and Oz sighed.

"She thinks I'm a whore." Oz says calmly pressing his nose between his thumb and index finger.

"Are you?" Gilbert asked curiously and Oz pouted.

"No... I've only slept with one person my entire life and just because I dumped a girl or didn't give them what they wanted they spread rumors of me sleeping with girls on the side while I was dating them and saying that I forced them to have sex. I was a middle school student, why the heck would I do such things? It's all a bunch of bull... I'm still not even mildly interested in sex!" Oz says with a small frown, watching Gilbert stare at him with a raised eye brow. "It's the truth! Don't judge me…" He says crossing his arms before Gilbert chuckled softly.

"Really, I've never knew that there was such a person that is like that with such a reputation like the one I heard of…" Gilbert says amusedly and Oz looked at him with a shocked look.

"Oh please, don't say that! I already know I have a bad reputation…" Oz says with a small whine as he looked up at Gilbert with pouting eyes and lips. Gilbert blinked before he looked away and apologized. 'Why is he apologizing? I just told him not to say that!' He thought sadly and Gilbert smiled slightly but watching Oz think before he saw blonde hair.

"Oniichan! This is where you were! I was looking for you." The blonde male says happily hugging Gilbert tightly and Gilbert sighed annoyed that his brother interrupted his first moments of his new relationship.

"Vincent… Please let go of me." Gilbert says calmly trying to pry the younger male off of him but the male, Vincent, only tightened his grip.

"No way… Why are you over here talking to a Vessalius anyway? You're going to catch some sort of disease, I'm sure he has all sorts of them." Vincent says causing Gilbert to flinch and glare at his brother before looking at Oz apologetically. Oz simply smiled at Vincent and gave him a small bow before he excused his self and walked away.

'Such an ass whole… I hate them so much.' Oz thought coldly feeling a prick of pain in his heart. 'Gilbert's a Nightray now but there's nothing different about him… even though he's forgotten, even though he's taller and more handsome than I ever could be, even though he's got the Nightray name… I-I can't hate him.' Oz thought thinking about Gilbert's reputation and he frowned. 'I-I'll only be a week for him... I'll make it so he won't forget it! He'll be so sexually frustrated by the end of this week! I'll show him how much of a bitch it is to be with a Vessalius, and that we're not easy or loose or have diseases! I'll show them how hard it is to get into my pants…' Oz thought with a small scowl before stopping in mid-step trying to fight the anger away from his mind. 'I should just treat him the way I treat the girls… They like to leave me after I've done everything they wanted, but I guess they all wanted the one thing I refused… sex.' Oz thought as he stopped in front of the buffet to see a brown haired girl stuffing her face. She seemed to notice him and waved but instantly scowled when she realized Oz was in pain and on the verge of crying. "Heh, maybe then he'd remember something about me." He whispered rubbing his eyes as the girl moved around the table to stand in front of him with a serious look.

"Who's hurt you this time, Oz?" She states in a pissed way as Gilbert appeared behind Oz grabbing his shoulder gently to get his attention.

"Oz, I-I'm sorry about Vincent! He says some really careless things but he doesn't mean it… I don't know what got into him!" Gilbert says in a slight panic as Alice grimaced at him before setting her plate down and standing beside Oz with a threatening aura.

"Alice-san, please be nice! T-this is Gilbert Nightray… H-He's my new b-" Oz says not able to finish his sentence because Alice grabbed him by the head and pressed his face to her shoulder protectively.

"I don't care who he is! If he makes you want to cry then I don't like him." Alice shouts watching Gilbert look at the two of them with shocked eyes before he scowled.

"You don't even know me so why are you saying you don't like me you stupid brat!" Gilbert shouts back surprising Oz slightly at the tone of his voice. "Besides who are you anyway to suddenly accuse me of hurting someone!" He states with a small glare and Alice hissed.

"Alice-san, please stop fighting with my boyfriend... You know that I hate when you fight with my dates." Oz says with a small whine to his voice and she flinched before releasing him before blushing slightly.

"So you're giving men another try…" She muttered crossing her arms with a small sigh. "When did your girlfriend break up with you? Why wasn't I informed that she did?" She questions giving Oz a serious look and Oz felt uncomfortable telling Alice what had happened because Gilbert was standing there.

"It was a while ago! You've been so busy with your boyfriend that you don't ever answer your phone." Oz says crossing his arms knowing that it wasn't exactly the truth but it would get him through this awkward situation.

"Wow… seriously? You really suck at keeping a girlfriend." Alice says with an unfazed look and Oz scowls before glancing at Gilbert who was looking at Alice with an annoyed look. "Maybe you'll be able to keep this one longer than your girlfriends. You better not hurt Oz or I'll hurt you Seaweed head, it'll be okay since you're a guy..." She says turning away from them walking down the long buffet to find more to eat.

"Just who is that ill-mannered brat?" Gilbert asks and Oz lets out a soft laugh, scratching the back of his head.

"That's Alice B. Rabbit… She's my friend and a star soccer player. She's usually pretty nice but she gets like that sometimes. I'm sorry about her rude attitude, she's like that with everyone I talk to, dating or not. She kind of considers me her little brother." Oz says with a slight smiles at he felt Gilbert shift uncomfortably. "I don't care about what your brother said about me or my family… It's just rumor and speculation. So don't let it bother you!" He says leaning back onto his right leg as he tilted his head up to look at the taller man.

"But… I don't feel the same way my brothers do." Gilbert says softly before patting Oz's head. "Maybe we should talk about it later." He says softly ruffling Oz's hair before Oz frowned and looked down at his hands.

"Okay…" Oz says quietly not wanting to talk about it because he knew he'd explode and say things he didn't mean about the younger Nightray. 'It does bother me but it's not like I don't acknowledge that they're both drop dead gorgeous and the fact they're adopted... Elliot is good looking too but he's my friend, we've been in the same class since the first year of Elementary school and Leo's been at Elliot's side since we were thirteen.' Oz thought as he watched Gilbert stare at the crowd of people. 'But it doesn't matter if I like his family or if I even like him... after all this is just a game to people like him. He never felt the same; he only did those things because it was his duty to.' He thought with a sigh as he crossed his arms and watched the people dance with Gilbert by his side.

_**Kyuun's notes:**_

_**I wrote it about a year ago and just never got around to finishing it or publishing it until now because of writers block for my other stories.  
><strong>__**I tried my hardest to keep Oz and Gilbert into their origional characters as well as the rest of the Pandora Hearts Cast. lol... **_

_**Enjoy the story! Please Review... If you guys like it enough, I'll post Chapter 2.**_


	2. The Date

**Fighting for Love**

**_Summary: _**_Oz has never had any luck with love after an incident destroyed his first love and caused him to lose his best friend. Now in his last years of high school, his friends are tired of his bad habits and trick him into dating a man known as the Raven of grief, who is known for causing girls to fall in love and dump them all in seven days. Now Oz must protect his heart from this bird and fight away memories of his past love. Lots of drama is sure to ensue as Oz and his friends face the most difficult thing in the world... love. _

**_Mostly Oz X Gilbert and Gilbert X Oz... Some Sharon X Break, Alice X Glen/Cheshire, Jack X Alyss, and Elliot X Leo but other than that it's all Oz and Gilbert._**

**Chapter 2- Date**

"Uh… I'm so tired… Ada, why did I have to stay at the party till such a late hour?" Oz mutters to his younger sister who lay beside him on the couch they were sharing.

"I wanted you and Gilbert-kun to talk… I saw you two standing together talking…" She said sleepily as she sucked on the tip on his thumb falling asleep in the process.

"That's a stupid reason to make me stay up so late…" He mutters with a frown and Ada sighs moving to lay her head on her brother's shoulder.

"You and Gilbert haven't spoken since your fifteenth birthday… Don't you want him to be friends with us?" Ada asks sadly and Oz frowned sadly knowing that Ada missed Gilbert almost as much as he did, almost as much being key words.

"It's for him to decide, Ada… It was his choice to leave and it has to be his choice to come back." Oz states softly and Ada frowned.

"You at least got his number, right?" Ada states with a serious look on her face and Oz laughed nervously.

"N-No… what makes you think that?" Oz says with a slight nervous laugh. 'If Ada found out that I am dating Gilbert then I will be in so much trouble.' He thought as he phone went off and Ada grabbed it before he could get to it.

"This says Gilbert Nightray… You're a bad lair, Oniichan." She says opening the text and Oz panicked but Ada only looked at it confusedly. "It says where do you want to go today? I'll go eat anywhere you want." She says with a small pout as she threw the phone at Oz. "You were going to go hang out with Gilbert all by yourself! You're so mean! Meanie! I hate you, Oniichan!" She shouts with tears in her eyes and Oz sighed knowing that she wanted to see Gilbert too.

"You can come with us… I'm sure Gilbert wouldn't mind." Oz says casually as he leaned back into a lying position on the couch. 'But that would be lame because you don't take your younger sister on a date you have especially when it's with another man… I'm sure Ada would be embarrassed if I told her that I was going out on a date with him.' He thought as he saw Ada's sad expression.

"I-I can't! I already have a previous engagement to attend to but the next time you hang out with him I want to come too!" She says childishly before storming out of the room and he sighed looking at the open text-message.

"Nice timing, Gilbert…" He muttered before he texted back the name of the restaurant he wanted to go to and the directions to the place. 'We should meet each other there since we both live on opposite sides of town.' Oz thought smiling as he sent the message and closed his eyes remembering a sweet memory.

_"Giiiil… Why are you so nervous? I thought you said you wanted to come with me to a restaurant?" the fourteen year old Oz states to a fearful looking thirteen year old Gilbert._

_"I said that it'd be nice but Young Master is far too elegant for this place and we should go home before Ms. Kate yells at me for skipping my after school duties" Gilbert says with a blush on his face as Oz held his hand and his sister's hand tightly._

_"Gilbert-kun you worry too much, Ms. Kate doesn't mind if we stay out as long as we return before dark, plus I've always wanted to eat here with Niichan and Gilbert." Ada says with a giggle as she pulled away from her brother and sat at the bar stool and Oz pulled Gilbert to the stool beside her before he sat down on the opposite side. "Besides I come here by myself all the time with Jack-Oniichan." Ada says happily waving at the man making ramen._

_"No fair, Ada…" Oz states over the black haired boy that was trembling in his seat. 'Gil's so cute! He acts like we're going to get raped by a crazy pervert if we eat here… It's so funny.' Oz thought with a laugh as a middle aged man appears and hands them a menu. Oz looked down at the menu and furrowed his brow confusedly. "What's all this Gil…? I've never heard of any of these. Are they good?" He says setting down his menu with a pout and Gilbert smiled gently at him._

_"Yeah… I used to eat at places like this all the time with my family before they disappeared." Gilbert says calmly causing the other two to tense before they smiled at Gilbert._

_"But what should I get Gil? I never had any of this before." Oz says with a slight worried look because family was a taboo subject for the three of them, they all hated to talk about it._

_"Hmm… Well, this would suit Ada-chan's tastes but I think this would suit your tastes, young master." Gilbert states and Oz smiled brightly as Gilbert blushed at the smile._

_"What's suits Gilbert's tastes?" Oz says looking at the menu. "Ah! Probably this, the Shio-Ramen, right...?" Oz says with a small laugh trying to tease Gilbert but the boy only smiled shyly._

_"Yeah… That's my favorite type, I'm surprised that they have it here, usually the Miso style is most popular in this area." Gilbert says smiling brightly and Oz order three bowls of Ramen startling Gilbert slightly before he tried to tell Oz he didn't want to eat but Oz refused to let Gilbert leave the place without eating with him._

The vibrating of his cellphone brought Oz out of his memory and he looked expecting it to be Gilbert but to his surprise it was Sharon-chan and he scowled. He opened the text and let out a small groan because it was a picture of him in the outfit he had worn the night before with Gilbert standing by his side smiling shyly.

'Why the hell did you send me this?' Oz growled as he texted the question before he stared at the picture for a moment longer. 'I kind of want to delete me out of the picture and just save the part with Gilbert in it…' He thought with a frown before he realized what he just thought and quickly deleted the photo from his phone. 'I'm not going to give in to this guy… never again.' Oz thought quickly as the cellphone rang because someone was calling him. He quickly answered it only to get screamed at by Sharon who went into fan-girl romance mode. 'Don't tell me Gilbert talks to Sharon-chan too.' He thought with a mortified look because Sharon was scolding him for wanting to go eat at a Ramen shop. He simply sigh and hung up knowing that the girl would be pissed but it was annoying to get yelled at so early in the morning by some. He then laid back on the couch, with a sigh before look at his phone. 'Why did I agree to this in the first place? It's just going to be painful for me, right?' He thought sighing as he pressed his phone against his chest. 'This sucks…' He thought bitterly closing his eyes before his phone rang again. He sighed before answering it without sitting up. "Hey Gilbert… Hmm…? Okay. We can meet at the restaurant; it's no big deal…No that's okay. I'm fine with it… It'll be more fun this way, don't you think? Different from how things usually are. Don't worry about it, thanks for telling me… Bye!" Oz says before hanging up and pouting. 'Gilbert's stupid brother... How dare he try and interfere.' Oz thought before sighing and looking over at the clock. "It's only nine o'clock!" He says with a small whine before he covered his face in a pillow. 'I want to go to sleep!' He thought with a frown before closing his eyes wanting to fall asleep but his body simply wouldn't let him. 'Sleep… Sleep… Sleep… Grr…' "Why doesn't my body want to sleep?" Oz shouts in annoyance before he sensed someone behind him.

"Maybe you're just excited to see Gilbert." Break's voice says causing Oz to open his eyes to see Break leaning over him grinning eerily. This caused Oz to jump off the couch and bolt to the other side of the room.

"Dammit it Break! Can you control how creepy you let yourself get?" Oz shouts to his friend who simply sat on the couch casually.

"How cruel, Oz-kun… and here I thought we could talk about your feelings for Gilbert-kun." Break says amusedly and Oz pouts before sitting down beside the man.

'You're so annoying.' He thought knowing the silver haired person couldn't read minds… or at least he hoped not. "What's there to talk about? Isn't it obvious that I don't like him? And you two pulled this stupid stunt on him. If he gets his feelings hurt it should be you guys that take responsibility." Oz states and Break chuckles softly.

"But I found this in your room." He states holding up Oz's secret Purikura book and Oz glared at him.

"Where'd you get that you damn clown." Oz says sounding like Alice when she gets pissed at the man.

"My, how rude, maybe I should tell him about this book. He'd be upset that you were so in love with a person that looks so much like him. He might think you're trying to use him as a replacement and that it's not really him you love." Break states and Oz glares at him before jumping for the book but Break pulled in out of his path causing the boy to land on his lap.

"I'm going to kill you if you don't give that back to me you creep!" Oz shouts grabbing Break's collar with a pissed off glare.

"Is it really that important that he doesn't find this book?" Break says teasingly and Oz punched him in the chest.

"Just give it to me!" He shouts in annoyance as Break threw him to the ground and smirked before the book was grabbed out of his hand.

"So this is why you came over, Xerexes… Don't torment my cousin, especially with this thing… You'd have to of been there to understand the complexity of this book." Jack states as he walked over and handed the book to the scowling boy.

"Hmm… Really now? It just looked like a bunch of pictures to me." Break states before smiling. "Well shall we go now Jack?" He asks and the man sighs.

"Yeah, but I'm still not happy about you tormenting Oz… You're his friend too, yah know, the least you could do is act like it." Jack states as the two walk out of the room while Oz sat there, on the floor, holding his book with an upset look as the words Break said to him rung in his head.

"It's not true…" Oz muttered lowering his head to his knees. "You're just too stupid to make the connection between this person and the person you see now." He states as if Break was still listening and he began to shake. "If Gilbert saw this then he might want to remember but he'd be angry at me for never coming forward and showing it to him." He says softly squeezing the book tighter against his chest.

"You're an ass sometimes you know that Xerexes correct?" Jack states while they drove down the street in his hummer.

"Hmm… Maybe but I just thought that I'd put some reality into his head since he thinks that love is a game to be won." Break states and Jack scowled.

"Is that how you see Oz's relationships? He's not playing… He's never played with anyone of those girls, he just wanted them to love him but they always had motives hidden behind their innocent acts. It's happened to me also so that's why it's extremely rare to see me date anyone." Jack states in a serious tone and Break chuckles.

"So you're saying Oz has a bunch of picture with a friend in that book and it's not a lover?" Break says amusedly and Jack nods.

"That book was his and his best friend's scrapbook. They never let anyone look at it, not even Ada and you carelessly looked through it; Oz was really ready to kill you." Jack states and Break only grinned evilly.

"Is that so? Well why haven't we ever met this little friend of Oz's?" Break questions as he noticed Jack had tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

"He's not around anymore… he left us a few years ago." Jack says softly knowing Break might miss interpret what he was saying but he didn't really care because just speaking about Oz this way reminded him of the incident that took place after they found Gilbert did not remember. 'We had almost lost both of them that year… It would have been too painful if it had happened.' Jack thought solemnly before he turned the corner and continued down the road.

**_0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0_**

"Alyss-chan! Good afternoon…" Oz calls as he enters the quaint little ramen shop that the Rabbit family owns and Alyss looked ups at him with a bright smile from the table she was currently at.

"Afternoon… Alice is still sleeping, you can go on up if you want." She says smiling as she handed a person their ramen speaking to them before turning back to Oz who sat down at a table and she looked at him confusedly.

"She obviously stayed up too late last night? That's sooo cute! But I'm not here to see Alice today… I'm on a date…" Oz says casually with a small grin watching the girl stare at him in shock.

"Why are you waiting here? Aren't you supposed to go pick them up? Isn't it a bit rude that you didn't?" She asks as if she didn't approve and Oz waved her questions away.

"_He_ said that he was going to be a bit late and that I should wait for him here so I wouldn't die from being out in the sun." Oz says calmly watching Alyss blush slightly.

"_He?_ You're going after men again? I thought that only that cute servant boy was the only man for you." Alyss states with a lot of interest and Oz sighed.

"Don't talk about that! Especially not in front of Gilbert, it would be a pain to explain to him!" Oz states with a small scowl and Alyss seemed to perk up before she smiled slightly.

"So he liked your outfit that much? Well if you ever need help with your personal style count on me." She says with a delighted wink as she headed out to take orders for other customers. Oz then sighed and leaned back in his chair with a slight annoyed look.

'This is annoying… Why the hell did his brother have to do that? Damn it, if you're going to ask someone on a date at least be on time or even better be early and wait for them!' He thought scowling before he noticed Gilbert entering the restaurant with a curious look. 'Not what you were expecting a snotty noble like me to choose, right? My stupid ex-girlfriends refused to even step foot into this place… Only Gil would happily come with me here.' He thought feeling a slight pain in his chest as he let out a small sigh before smiling at the man as he was approached. "Afternoon Gilbert… I can call you that, right?" Oz says with a small wave as the taller teen tensed as if startled by Oz's words before he glanced down at Oz who was staring up at him innocently.

"Afternoon... I-I don't mind, please, call me whatever you like." Gilbert says softly with a smile that showed he was clearly embarrassed for being called by his first name. 'First such a laid back restaurant and then something like that, it feels like I've known this person for a very long time. I like this feeling.' He thought sitting in the seat across from Oz.

"Is there something wrong?" Oz asked curiously watching Gilbert look around the restaurant with curious eyes.

"I've just never been here before..." Gilbert says in a soft voice and Oz looked at him with hurt eyes before he smiled sadly. "But I feel like this place is a very familiar place that I should know very well." He says covering his face in embarrassment and Oz tilted his head with a surprised look.

'He doesn't remember but he knows he should remember this place… I-I shouldn't have asked to come here.' Oz thought feeling a stab of guilt hit him as he frowned.

"So you two are boyfriends, right?" Alyss states cheerfully, breaking the depressing atmosphere that was beginning to form around the two as she appeared in front of the table, almost scaring the two males out of their seats. This caused her to look at them with confused looks before handing them their menus.

"Alyss-san, please, don't say that out loud in public… We both are part of a Dukedom, you know and not to mention our families don't exactly get along. People would make this out to be a big scandal if they find out." Oz says with a weak smile on his face and Gilbert looked at him a bit sad but he understood because his own family would blow it out of proportion too just like Oz's would. "I mean I'm happy that you and Alice accepted us and everything but… not everyone will." Oz says glancing back at Gilbert with sad eyes. "Right?" He whispered and Gilbert felt like Oz had gone through something like this before as he felt his chest hurt just with the pain in Oz's eyes.

"Y-Yeah… Not everyone is very accepting about our type of relationship." Gilbert says looking away feeling a nostalgic feeling but he didn't understand why.

"Hmm… so it's like Sharon-chan's relationship, right? What fun…Well, keep me posted; I'll design a wedding dress for you." Alyss says with a playful smile as she turned toward the counter where an order was waiting to be delivered.

"A-Alyss-chan, don't say such things!" Oz says glaring at her as she laughed warmly.

"I'll leave you two to it then… Have fun, Oz. I'll be back to take your order soon." She says with a giggle as she quickly took the bowl to the customer.

'What does she mean by 'it'?' Oz thought with a small sigh before smiling up at Gilbert. 'Ah… I have no idea what to talk to him about… Even though he acts like the old Gil doesn't mean he is.' Oz thought with a small panicked look on his face and Gilbert seemed to notice this and chuckled.

"At least I'm not the only one that doesn't know what to talk about..." He says softly and Oz blushed slightly before looking at the ground suddenly feeling really embarrassed.

"I-I'm sorry… I should have thought about the things we had in common before I wrote that letter." He says with a slight laugh trying to sound as if he knew what was in the letter.

"It's fine... That's why we're going on a date right? We're here to learn about each other." He says with a soft chuckle as Oz laughed with him.

"You're totally right!" Oz says trying to ignore the racing of his heart. 'This is stupid… It's been a year and a half since then and I still react like this.' Oz thought frowning looking at his menu trying so hard to ignore the stare that Gilbert was giving him. 'This is so embarrassing…' He thought glancing up at Gilbert who was now looking down at the menu confusedly. "What's wrong?" He asks with a curious look and Gilbert blushed with a look of embarrassment and shame on his face.

"Well, I don't know what to choose… I've never eaten Ramen before." Gilbert states and Oz looked at him with an eye brow raised.

"You haven't eaten Ramen before?" Oz states as if it wasn't a fact and the blush grew on the taller male's face. 'You just don't remember that you have, Gil… but after you became a Duke they probably didn't want you to eat stuff like this, even though it tastes good.' He thought smiling brightly. 'I should order Gil's favorite and maybe he'll remember eating here with me.' Oz thought before gasping and staring into space with shocked eyes. 'Why did I think of something like that?' he thought quickly hiding his shock behind his menu but Gilbert had already noticed it and frowned. "I'm sorry I should have been more considerate…" Oz says softly trying to hide why he had looked so shocked.

"It's fine… I wanted to go somewhere that Oz likes and this place feels like a special place to you." Gilbert states softly and Oz felt the pain return to his chest.

'It is… This is where I told Gilbert my darkest secret.' Oz thought softly looking up at him with a sincerely pained look; this instantly caused Gilbert to become worried before he noticed Oz start to smile.

"That's right… This place is very important to me and now it's even more important." Oz says with a childish grin on his face. '…Because I get to eat here with Gil once more!' He thought happily and the man relaxed slightly before sighing trying to look annoyed.

"You're so moody." He comments and Oz laughs happily.

"Awe… don't say that! Here since you never had ramen before let me pick out the perfect ramen for Gilbert!" He states waving Alyss down and she walked over to him.

"So what will you have Oz?" She says with a slight grin on her face and Oz grinned at her happily.

"Okay, One Shio-styled Ramen bowel for Gilbert and the usual for me, Alyss-chan please!" Oz states happily and Alyss looked at him a bit shocked before smiling gently.

"Alright… I'll bring it to you when it's ready." She says with a softly almost sad look. 'That order is what he and that servant boy would always order when they came in on daddy's shift.' Alyss thought with a sad look in her eyes as she remembers the moment she had first met Oz and that boy. 'It makes me wonder who his new boyfriend really is… Oz said that he was a duke right?' She thought glancing back at the two who were sitting in silence.

"Alyss… It's time for your break. I'll take over…" Alice states appearing in her uniform as Alyss looked at her with a small smile.

"Alright… Oz and his boyfriend are here on a date so don't bother them or I'll have father scold you again." Alyss says with a wink before leaving for the back of the building.

"AH! You demon." Alice hisses before looking at Oz and Gilbert. 'That stupid Seaweed head reminds me of that black haired boy that almost killed Oz.' Alice thought frowning before she started taking orders and delivering food. 'I wonder if Oz notices how similar they look yet. I hope he'll be okay with this relationship if it ends badly… I don't want to see him like that again.' She thought setting the food down onto the table in front of the customer before walking to the next table to get an order.

"That stupid rabbit works here too?" Gilbert mutters glancing at Alice as she took a different couples order.

"Yeah this is her family's restaurant! She doesn't really like it but she says it gives her spending money." Oz says with a laugh and Gilbert chuckled.

"I'm surprised she doesn't eat everything, in site, while working here. She eats like she has four stomachs." Gilbert states casually and Oz laughed warmly at the thought.

"Well she's an athlete so she has to eat a lot to keep up her stamina! After all, last year she led our team to the finals but we got disqualified because one of the other team members groped Alice after a game and the entire team jumped him, trying to kill him for harassing their best player." Oz says with a huge grin on his face and Gilbert nodding remembering how serious that incident was.

"Soccer is such a violent sport when you think about it." Gilbert states and Oz pouted.

"It's fun to watch those types of fights though! Alice is always at the front of the pack kicking butt and taking names." Oz says with a grin and Gilbert sighs. "What? It's not fun if you don't think it's not fun." He states with a small pout before he noticed Alice staring at him and he waved cheerfully. 'She's not happy about me dating Gilbert I'm guessing. Well she didn't like him last night.' He thought with a chuckle before looking at Gilbert with a small smile. "What should we do after we eat? Want to hang out at the park? We could go to the market area and watch a movie in the theater if you want! My treat!" Oz states watching Gilbert raise an eye brow and Oz looked at him curious before Alice appeared and set down their bowls of Ramen before looking at Oz.

"Afternoon Alice!" Oz says cheerfully and Alice smiled slightly.

"As long as you're happy right now then it's fine whatever the outcome." She states with a sigh before walking away from the very confused boy and Gilbert sighs.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Gilbert mutters looking at the spoon and chopstick like that were foreign objects to him.

"I don't know what she meant… Here! Here... Let me show you how to do it!" Oz says with a bright grin as he watched Gilbert nod Oz broke his chopsticks apart. He then commenced to show Gilbert how to hold and use the utensil. 'Ah… This is just like when we first came here.' He thought warmly as he said a thank you for the food and picked up some of the noodles. 'I was the same way… but thanks to Gil I learned real quick… It's kind of sad that I now have to do the same to the very person that taught me.' He thought watching Gilbert eat. Oz couldn't help but smile at the face Gilbert was making as he picked up the noodles with the chopsticks, it was so serious that Oz wanted to laugh. He hadn't seen such a face on the males face since they were twelve and he was supposed to help Oz play the piano, which he was miserable at. "You're a natural, Gilbert…" Oz says laughing knowing Gilbert's body remembered how to use the chopsticks even if Gilbert his self did not and Gilbert blushed embarrassed at what was said.

"Thanks… I think." Gilbert says with a slight flustered look before he continued to eat.

"Do you like it?" Oz asks curiously watching the taller male smile slightly.

"Yeah." He says shyly and Oz felt his heart speed up slightly before he laughed.

"I knew you would!" Oz says cheerfully before Gilbert laughed softly before shaking his head.

"Things like that are impossible to know." Gilbert says causing Oz to pout before continuing to eat as well.

'It isn't impossible if you know the person way too well.' Oz thought frowning starting to feel like a stalker and looked down at his bowl.

'This person always seems happy but… this is just like Rika said would happen.' Gilbert thought frowning watching the person in front of him sit there as if deep in thought. 'He smiles and laughs with brilliance around his friends but when he's alone with someone one on one it seems different. Could he be the type of person who's hesitant to get close to someone?' Gilbert thought watching Oz a moment longer before speaking. "Is… Is there something on your mind?" He questions hesitantly looking away as the boy looked up at him. Oz simply smiled childishly before shaking his head.

"No… Not really at least. I was just thinking of something that we could do together but it's kind of stupid and childish." Oz says with a slight blush on his cheeks that had Gilbert smiling silently relieved that it wasn't something bad.

"Well you can tell me if you want… I won't make fun of you." Gilbert states with a slight curious look on his face and Oz looked at him with a bit of excitement.

"I was thinking we could go to an arcade and play some video games! It's lame but it'd be something to do afterwards and it'd be less girly than going to a movie." Oz says scratching the back of his head shyly and Gilbert laughed softly.

"That'd be fun… I haven't been to an arcade in a long while." Gilbert says softly watching Oz perk up at what he said.

"Right! I'm going to kick your butt in air hockey!" He says with a bright smile causing Gilbert to grin at him.

"We'll see about that." He says watching Oz eat with an excited look on his face. 'I think it just will take time to get to know this person…' He thought with a small smile on his face.

**_0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0_**

'I cannot believe I survived that date… He's so different than what everyone has been saying.' Gilbert thought smiling happily at the memory of how the date went as he laid on a couch in his family's living room. 'I'm surprised he put up such a fight when I went to pay for our meal. It was surprising… Of course his pride was hurt when I did pay for it.' Gilbert thought remembering how Oz was angry at him because he had said that it was his treat but Gilbert paid before Oz could.

"Oniichan… What are you doing over there? You've been smiling since you got back from whatever you were doing… Why didn't you let me come with you?" Vincent says sitting in the chair beside his brother with a small frown.

"Nothing, Vince… I didn't let you come because it doesn't involve you." Gilbert says smiling slightly at how Oz had said his sister had wanted to see him. 'At least your sibling supports your decision.' He thought letting his smile fall slightly.

"Hey Gilbert, Vincent… Where's Reo?" A male's voice shouts as a silver haired teen appears in the room.

"Huh? Oh Elliot… Reo said that you two had finished your report and so he was going home. Didn't he tell you?" Gilbert states with a curious look on his face and Elliot flinched.

"Uh, Right…" The teen, Elliot, states softly, with a slight blush for some reason before he decided to change the subject. "Um…What are you two doing in here anyway?" Elliot states with a slight annoyed look and Gilbert sighed.

"I was just relaxing a bit… Vince is… well, he's being my little brother." Gilbert states with a slight smile and Vincent pouts.

"That's not funny! Gilbert went somewhere today and won't tell me… He always tells me where he goes. Something's fishy!" Vincent states with a slight scowl and Elliot frowned at his choice of words.

"If something's fishy then it's your date earlier today… With that dimwitted Vessalius, I do recall, correct?" Elliot states in monotone voice causing both of his brothers to flinch and stare at him in shock.

"How did you find out?" Vincent shouts before storming out of the room and Elliot looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"It's called Facebook…" Elliot calls out to Vincent before he turned to look at Gilbert. "I didn't find out about you on that site though so why did you flinch. Don't tell me she's dating both of you… That'd surprising thing since she's stupid enough to post on her blog that she went on a date with Vincent." He says calmly and Gilbert gives him a nervous look.

"I was just shocked by what you said. It has nothing to do with her." He states with a small pout as he noticed Elliot scratch the back of his head. "Is there something bothering you?" He asks wondering if something was wrong. Elliot shifted in discomfort as he thought of something he should say.

"Have I been acting weird or something?" Elliot asks softly and Gilbert frowned at him.

"No, not that from what I can tell… Why?" Gilbert says calmly as he watched Elliot glare at the ground in front of him. "Did you two get into another fight?" He asks watching Elliot move over and sit beside him.

"I don't know… Last week we were getting along great but for some reason he started avoiding me. I don't know why…" He says with a slight frown as Gilbert nodded in understanding.

"Maybe you two should talk about it…" Gilbert says wanting to pat the boy's head but he knew better than anyone else that Elliot didn't like being touched. He listened to Elliot huff at his words before he pulled his legs up to his chest and buried his head under his hands.

"That's easy for you to say… You're not always at your best friend's throat all the time." Elliot muttered and Gilbert felt a bit of a stab in his chest because he thought about one of his only friends.

"Well, I think we might be soon…" Gilbert muttered realizing that he was friends with Jack Vessalius, Oz's cousin, who is always going on and on about the boy and the fact Oz was technically one of Elliot's friends. 'I know Jack won't be mad but I hope Elliot won't be angry at me…' He thought with a nervous feeling in his stomach.

"I don't even want to know…" Elliot states in annoyance at the look on the older males face as Gilbert gasped.

"Pardon me for my lapse of thought… I'm here trying to help." Gilbert states with a slight blush adorning his cheeks. "E-Even if you two are constantly fighting you two always make up. What's different this time?" He asks watching Elliot flinch before he shifted into a tighter ball.

"I don't know… It's just he is acting weird and I don't know if it's something I did or is it something that's going on with his family. I tried to get him to talk but he won't talk to me. Then I get angry and start yelling at him or he gets angry and throws things at me. It's impossible for us to have a civil conversation." He says in a depressed voice and Gilbert smiled slightly.

"Maybe you should have a mediator… Some who can keep the two of you calm while you talk?" Gilbert says softly and Elliot shook his head.

"Reo's usually the mediator… No one can keep us both calm." Elliot says softly as he tilted his head to the side.

"You'll never know if you don't try… Why don't you ask one of your other friends to try being a mediator?" Gilbert says watching Elliot give the look that said 'what friends' and Gilbert felt like he was walking on thin ice. "What about Oz, Jack's cousin… He's in your grade and you two were friends back in Elementary and middle before you met Reo, right? Why don't you talk to him about it…? I'm sure he'd be happy to help you." Gilbert says with a slight nervous look on his face as Elliot stood.

"Yeah… Maybe, I'll give him a call tomorrow. I need to sleep…Night." Elliot says before walking out of the room and Gilbert could tell that Elliot was angry at him. Elliot on the other hand had left the room and let a slight blush creep onto his cheeks. 'What's with that idiot telling me to talk to a Vessalius? Just because we're always in the same class for the same reason, he expects us to be all buddy-buddy… I don't like that little shrimp and I'm not friends with him.' Elliot thought bitterly as he walked down the hall toward his room.


End file.
